1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to systems for facilitating parts assembly processes in manufacture of industrial products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Industrial products, including automobiles and motorbikes, are often manufactured by conveyer systems. Within a conveyer system, products are conveyed along an assembly line by belt conveyers, or the like, and parts are assembled to the products by workers arranged at predetermined positions. Workers are obliged to assemble the parts to the products conveyed on the line with reference to work instruction manuals.
A production management system is known in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application NO.2001-202115, by which parts are assembled into products using information recording media containing product identifying information, and parts identifying information. The product identifying information is used for identifying the products, while the parts identifying information is used for identifying parts to be assembled to the respective products.
Highly sophisticated products whose sales are strongly dependent on user's preference, such as motorbikes and automobiles, are often required to satisfy various sorts of user's requirements, including variations and options of the products. To meet various users' requirements, different parts are required to be assembled into products on the same assembly line. There is a need for providing a technique for improving efficiency in assembling various kinds of parts into products on a single assembly line.